Editorial: Questions remain after Ipswich D&D drops plans

Roy Serpa may have dropped his plans for a Dunkin’ Donuts drive through at Lord Square, but significant questions remain in the aftermath of the plan’s demise.

First, Serpa hasn’t said what his next step might be, if any.

Second, the intense neighborhood opposition to the drive-through window shone a bright light on the town’s bylaw prohibiting "formula" fast-food drive-throughs and the bylaw didn’t come away looking all that good.

Serpa’s original plan would have restructured the traffic flow through Lord Square in exchange for allowing the drive-through order window. Among other changes, the plan called for eliminating the left-hand turn into Dunkin’ Donuts from the northbound side of High Street, creating an overflow lane for cars waiting to fill up at Prime Gas and eliminating some of the square’s traffic islands.

The square’s traffic is already a mess, especially during the summer — months the traffic study didn’t include.

So, adding a drive-through to the Lord Square "S" was always a tough sell.

Still, it would have been interesting to see what an independent analysis of the traffic study Serpa commissioned would have said — to a large degree, the success or failure of the plan as proposed might have hinged on that independent analysis.

Now, we’ll never know.

Of course, swapping a private drive through for public traffic improvements created another layer of opposition — some simply believed such a swap was wrong and only public money should improve public roads.

On a more practical level, if the plan had improved traffic flow, safety and the square’s appearance, then the town would have had to at least listen.

Serpa would have also demolished the buildings at 2, 4 and 6 Lord Square and replaced them with two Colonial-style buildings. Phonycoloni architecture has its drawbacks for sure. But the square would have looked better than it does now and would have fit in better with the real Colonial-era homes in the neighborhood.

Perhaps, if the town is lucky, Serpa will continue with the construction plans and clean up the Square’s look — but he may have no incentive to continue.

The debate also highlighted some unwarranted fears and revealed potential flaws in the town’s drive-through bylaw

First, the Zoning Board of Appeals could have put a restriction on any drive-through approval limiting it to the use of a coffee/doughnut shop.

Thus, Serpa would have been prevented from selling the drive-through use to McDonald’s, Burger King or some other fast-food chain as many letter-writers against the plan feared.

Second, the town’s drive-through bylaw prohibits drive-through windows for "formula" fast food and then goes on to define what that means in terms of the law.

Page 2 of 2 - Unfortunately, even if a drive-through would be dangerous and detrimental to the environment, the bylaw still does nothing to prevent a sole proprietor from opening a restaurant with a drive through — so Lord Square and the town remain vulnerable to the drive-through order window from that standpoint.

In addition, the bylaw might have difficulty standing up to a court challenge should anyone decide to fight it.

The law doesn’t ban all food drive-through order windows. It only bans them for "formula" fast food restaurants. Thus it discriminates against a certain type of business and doesn’t prevent the use itself. A hamburger or a sandwich ordered from a "formula" fast-food chain or from a single restaurant is still food ordered from a drive-through window. The bylaw should ban both or neither.